A Series of Unfortunate Events: When it Rains
by TheBrightestNight
Summary: Dear Reader, The story you are about to read is very unpleasant. It tells of a young boy with much potential but unfortunate upbringings. So, his tragic journey begins, facing the horrors of a life as a demigod... since mere birth. –Ariadne Blackwood
1. One

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson**

**A/N: These next few fanfictions will probably be three to four chapters long, depending on how much material I have to work with/how much material I can come up with.**

**As the title implies, I'll be writing a series of unfortunate events (and just to be clear this has nothing to do with the actual series written by Lemony Snicket) that takes place throughout Luke's life from the day May decided to become the Oracle to the day that Luke sacrificed himself to save the world. The one you're currently reading is just going to be through Luke's childhood up until he gets to Camp Half-Blood.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

_Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald_

άλφα—Alpha

We set the stage to the beginning of this woeful story in front of the porch of a big blue house, in the middle of an ironically peaceful summer. The breeze was warm and stirred the trees causing the leaves to shake in a symphony of greenery. The sun shone brightly and hotly on the four standing near the front of the big house.

And although today was a nice day the conversation going on between the three out of four was ominous and grave.

"It's an honor to have you here." Chiron, the centaur with short, dark brown, curly hair and beard said his tone anxious. "It's been a long time since a mortal was allowed at camp.

"Don't encourage her," Hermes—the Greek god of travelers, merchants, thieves and messengers, wearing a simple jogging suit and winged high-tops—complained. "May, you _can__'__t_ do this." he begged, looking at the third person standing on the porch. A woman, tall, blonde hair, and a smile that lit up her eyes. The baby—with glowing blue eyes and a shock of blond hair; our four on the porch and subconsciously taking everything in—in May's arms (our focus) squirmed in his blue blanket. May adjusted accordingly.

"Oh, don't worry so much," May answered Hermes, rocking the baby to calm him down. "You need an Oracle, don't you? The old one's been dead for, what, twenty years?"

"Longer," Chiron answered his tone darkening even more.

Hermes threw his arms up in exasperation, an almost desperate look in his eyes. "I didn't tell you the story so you could _apply_. It's dangerous. Chiron, tell her."

"It is," Chiron agreed. "For many years, I have forbidden anyone from trying. We don't know exactly what's happened. Humanity seems to have lost the ability to host the Oracle."

May smiled reassuringly at both Chiron and Hermes. "We've been through that," she stated. "And I know I can do it. Hermes, this is my chance to do something good." she coaxed. "I've been given the gift of sight for a reason."

Hermes's eyes stung with hurt and his lips turned down into a frown. "You couldn't marry if you became the Oracle. You couldn't see _me_ anymore."

May shifted, holding the boy in one arm and resting her free hand on Hermes's arm. "I can't have you forever, can I? You'll move on soon. You're immortal." She threw a good point, on her part, at him. (For all you reading, a suggestion would be to stay mortal.) Hermes opened his mouth to object but May moved her hand from his arm to his chest. "You know it's true! Don't spare my feelings. Besides we have a wonderful child. I can still raise Luke if I'm the Oracle, right?"

May looked at Chiron expectantly.

He cleared his throat and coughed. "Yes, but in all fairness, I don't know how that will affect the spirit of the Oracle. A woman who has already borne a child—as far as I know, this has never been done before. If the spirit does not take—"

"It will," May insisted her eyebrows momentarily knitting together. But her face cleared as she made up her mind. With a deep breath, she kissed her baby on the forehead and handed him to Hermes. "I'll be right back." With a confident smile, she ascended the stairs into the big blue house.

Chiron and Hermes paced as another warm breeze blew through the valley. The baby in Hermes's arms squirmed and whined now and again like it knew something horrid was going to happen.

And happen it did.

The windows of the house lit with a neon green glow, visible in even the brightest light of the sun. An arctic, haunting wind blew through the camp making the campers stop what they were doing, that and the green light.

"No! _No!_" Hermes cried, shoving the now wailing baby into Chiron's arms and dashing up the stairs. But before he could even reach the door the find afternoon of this year's summer crumbled to dust as May Castellan's shriek cut through the air, engraining itself into the hearts and minds of those around to hear, including her son.

* * *

><p>May reached down into her son's crib, cooing and smiling, her fractured eyes gazing down loving at her son. Her blonde hair had white streaks in it, and had become limp and stringy.<p>

"My son," she said stroking his hair and covering him with his blanket again. "My boy. My sweet." She continued when suddenly her knees buckled. Instinctively she grabbed the side of the crib for support. Her eyes glowed green, the green that could be seen from the house on the fateful day she tried to become the Oracle, and her voice became deep and raspy. "_My __child!_" she gasped."_Not __my __child! __Not __his __fate!_" The baby's face scrunched up, his eyes shutting tightly and he opened his mouth letting out cries, tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. He may not have known what was going on, but the feeling in the room was not pleasant."_Not __his __fate! __No! __Hermes, __help! __Please __help__—__Not __my __son!_"

When the spell had passed, May's hand became slack and she fell to the floor of the nursery, completely out.

The baby continued to cry.

_Year __the __First_

"That's right, my son," May cried happily. "Come over to mommy."

With a smile, with the hint of his first baby tooth, and his beautiful blue eyes alight with excitement, Luke started his struggle to take a step toward his mother. His birthday had passed not only a week ago, and now he was almost walking. He took a small, wobbly step and then another and another.

May clapped happily. "That's right, Luke! Come over here! Come to mommy." she repeated.

Luke smiled even wider and laughed happily, seeing his mother smile. Half-way there, however, May fell to her knees, clutching at the wall. She blinked and her already fractured eyes illuminated in a neon green.

"_No!_" she rasped. "_No! __Not __my __baby!_" She lunged toward Luke, missing by a few feet. Nonetheless, Luke shocked and terrified, sat down hard before breaking down into tears as him mother clawed at the carpeted floor of the hallways and cried out. "_Must __protect __him! __Must __protect __him! __Not __my __son!_"

_Year __the __Second_

Luke awoke to screams and cries coming from his mother's bedroom. His heart jumped in his chest and he crawled to the very corner of his crib, pulling his blanket and teddy bear with him.

He jumped and cowered behind his teddy bear when something slammed into his closed door.

"_Luke!_" May shrieked banging on the door again. Luke hid under his blankets, hugging his bear tightly to him, and sobbing. "_My __poor __baby __boy!_" She slammed her fists against the door again.

Luke sobbed harder, hugging his bear so tightly the head would've popped off if it had been stuffed anymore.

Even after the banging had stopped, Luke continued to cry and sob and scream until he'd worn himself out so much that he finally drifted into a fitful night's sleep.

_Year __the __Third_

Luke is sitting in the living room, playing with a Medusa beanbag toy. Smiling and giggling, waiting for May to come out of the kitchen with his lunch. He'd just thrown the Medusa beanbag up into the air when there was noise in the kitchen.

May had dropped something.

Luke looked over to the door, letting the Medusa toy fall to the floor totally ignored.

He stood up and stumbled over the door.

"Mommy?" he called, his second word he'd learned since last year. No noise, from what Luke could tell came from the kitchen any longer. "Mommy?" he asked again, pushed the swinging door open.

"_Luke!_" May cried, her green eyes locking onto him.

With a gasp, Luke stumbled back, falling down before scrambling to his feet crying, "Daddy"—his first word learned—"help!" and waddling behind the couch to hide. The noises in the kitchen picked up as things were grabbed and thrown across the room or into a wall.

Tears spilled from three-year-old Luke's eyes as he kept repeating over and over in his head, _Daddy, __help._

_Year __the __Fourth_

"Mommy, when do I get to see Daddy?" Luke asked sitting at the kitchen table while his mother poured him a glass of Kool-Aid.

"You're father," May repeated a little dreamily. "You have his eyes you know." she told Luke turning to give him the glass of Kool-Aid. "He was the perfect man." She nodded. "The perfect man." She repeated.

"Mommy, what's wrong with your eyes?" he asked.

May's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, my, well… it was a little after you were born, I'm sure. I'd always been special, able to see through the… whatchamicallit. The-the… the Mist! Yes the Mist. You know, sweetie, the stuff the covers mortals eyes from all the dangerous monsters."

"Mmm-hmm," Luke nodded.

May smiled. "And they offered me a super important job! That's how special I was!" She beamed. Then her smile faded, the corner's of her lips turning down into a frown. "But it didn't… didn't quite work out the way I thought. You're-you're father warned me not to do it, he did. But I felt it was my destiny! I had to! He didn't understand that part.

"And now… well now I just can't hardly get the images out of my head. It makes the world seem a bit funny. Would you like some more Kool-Aid, dear?" she asked.

Luke nodded a little warily. Something was obviously wrong with her. But what had happened so long ago? Was it monsters? Was her important job to slay a really terrible monster and it didn't work out? What about the strange images she saw? What were those? Did they have to do with Luke?

"Here you are—" May turned and broke off, the glass slipping out of her hand, shattering on impact with the linoleum floor of the kitchen.

"No!" Luke gasped scrambling off the stool and out of the kitchen before he had to see her glowing green eyes, before he had to hear her yell at him for doing something wrong that he didn't even know about. "Daddy, _please_!" Luke cried. "Help me!"

_Year __the __Fifth_

Luke's first day of Kindergarten should've been an exciting one. Instead it was one of dread. Luke wasn't scared of trying to make friends, or even scared that he'd fail all his classes because he couldn't read anything but Ancient Greek text. It was that when they arrived he saw all the kids with their Mommy's and Daddy's. He didn't want to walk into class with just his Mommy.

What would the other kids think? That he didn't have one? That he didn't want to be here to drop off his son on the very first day of the rest of his school life? Or worse, what if they asked about it him? What would Luke tell them? Certainly not that Luke's father was a Greek god. What about on Fathers' Day, or Career Week?

His own father didn't even care about him enough to walk him to class on his first day of school?

_Daddy,__where __are __you?_ Luke asked as he reluctantly took May's hand and together they walked to his meet his new teacher.

_Year __the __Sixth_

"You all know what tomorrow is, right children?" Ms. Miller asked the classroom.

"Yes!" all the students cheered with big smiles and bright eyes, well all except for one: Luke.

"And what's that?" the teacher asked, holding her hand to her ear.

"Fathers' Day!" they yelled.

"Correct! So, we're going to do something extra special just for them! Get out your crayons, and markers, and paints so we can start."

The kids started chatting excitedly about the project, getting out their supplies. The teacher walked around handing out a folded piece of paper that had Happy Fathers' Day printed on the front in a fancy cursive.

Ms. Miller clapped to get their attention again.

"Now, I want you to color is as much as you want with whatever you want. But make it nice for your father, and don't forget to write a little note to him and sign the card too." she explained. "Okay, begin!"

Luke stared at his card as tears filled his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away when Ms. Miller came over to his desk.

"Luke, are you going to make it nice and colorful for your dad?" she asked, kneeling next to him.

Luke shook his head. "I never see _my_ dad." he told her. "He hasn't shown up for any of my birthdays and he didn't drop me off on my first day of school."

"Oh, sweetie, he's probably just very busy. Your mom told me that he was busy delivering packages to people all around the world constantly." she explained. When Luke still didn't start she switched tactics. "How about this? Make him the card and then send it to him. I'm sure he'll be very happy to get a card from his son."

Luke looked at the card uncertainly the gears in his head turning. Maybe that would work. He was the god of messengers after all, right? Why was there a reason he _shouldn__'__t_ get the card?

"Okay." Luke said quickly getting out his markers, knowing just the design he was going to do for his dad.

"I'm sure he'd be so proud of you right now." Ms. Miller said standing and walking around to see if anyone else needed help or had any questions.

At the end of the day Luke wrote Hermes's name on the card and put it into the mailbox, putting the flag up, like he'd seen other mailmen do when they delivered their mail, hoping that his dad would get it.

The next morning before going to school, Luke ran out to check the mailbox. His card was still in there, untouched. With a surge of anger Luke ripped it out of the mailbox, crumpled it up, and threw it out into the street.

_Year __the __Seventh_

"Here's your favorite, PB and J." May said setting a plate down in front of Luke who lifted it up eagerly and took a big bite. May ruffled his blond hair. "That's my boy. My growing boy." Humming she turned back to the cutting board and started making yet another sandwich. Without warning she turned and grabbed Luke's shoulders roughly, shaking him.

"_My __son!_" she rasped. Luke gasped and tried to wriggle free from his mother's grasp, but her bony fingers were firm—like iron vices—and kept him where he was. "_Save __him! __Save __him __from __his __fate! __Not __his __fate!_"

With a cry Luke wrenched himself from her grasp and dashed for the stairs closing the door to his room and sitting against, curled into a ball, sobs racking his body.

"Daddy, please help me. Please help me, Daddy." he cried over and over again. "Please save me, Daddy. I'm so scared."

_Year __the __Eighth_

"Luke," Mr. Dakota called. "Would you like to come up with your parents now?" he asked.

Luke shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "They're not here." he mumbled, looking down at his desk.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to say that again." the teacher requested.

"They're not here." Luke repeated a little louder, but still not loud enough to hear.

"Luke, I'm sorry, but I just can't hear you." he said again.

"Luke doesn't have any parents!" a kid yelled. The whole class broke out into laughter. The parents that were here rushed over to their kids to scold them for making fun of him and the teacher tried in vain to get their attention.

With tears welling up in his eyes and spilling down his cheeks, Luke booked it out of the classroom, leaving all his things still there, and ran all the way home, not stopping for anything or anybody.

He slammed the door when he got in. May poked her head around the corner.

"My boy? Is that you?" she asked.

"I hate you!" he screamed at her. "I hate you. I hate my dad! I hate this house! I don't want to live here anymore!" And with those words Luke ran upstairs and into his bedroom.

May followed and bagged on his door, but Luke had closed it and barricaded it.

"My boy! Don't leave! I'm sorry. Please, don't go." May cried.

"Go away! I don't want to talk to you!" Luke yelled, hugging his teddy bear.

"Luke, please stay. You're safer here. You'll be safe here. Please…."

_Year __the __Ninth_

He was going to run away. He finally decided. He was going to run away. He didn't care if monsters would attack him. He didn't care if it was dangerous at all. He needed to get out of this place. It wasn't a house or a home anymore. It'd become a house of terrors and nightmares.

"Luke, where are you going? Today isn't school, is it?" May asked startling Luke who had the front door open.

"N-no." he answered truthfully. "It's not school."

"Then why are you leaving, my dear boy?" May asked taking a few steps toward him.

"B-b-because… because it'll be safer for you if I was gone for a little while. The… the monsters won't want to attack the house anymore. Won't want to attack you anymore. You'll… you'll be safer without me here." Luke quickly thought.

"But… no, Luke. You can't leave, not now. Lunch will be ready any minute." May pleaded.

"I promise," Luke blurted. "I promise I'll be back for lunch." Before May could say anything else Luke sprinted out of the house and down the sidewalk, never to look back again.

**So****… ****tell ****me ****what ****you ****think! ****Again, ****I ****hope ****you ****enjoyed!**

**.happiness.**

**~ See ****you ****at ****Camp ****Half-Blood!**


	2. Two

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson**

**A/N: Okay, for those of you who have read my other Luke/Thalia fanfiction, I'm probably going to use some of those scenarios for this story (this time they'll be the book ages though and have Annabeth with them). But it will be different because it'll be in Luke's perspective. Also, I'm not sure of the exact age that Luke and Thalia met, so I'm guessing.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

βήτα—Beta

Luke leaned up against the brick building, off to the side of the sidewalk. The end of the day was nearing. The sun was sinking below the streets, hiding behind the buildings. To his right the sky was turning a mysterious blue, while on his left the sun still lit half the sky with an array of light purples, pinks and oranges.

Luke pulled out a bright red, leather wallet he'd acquired about a week, ten days, ago from a woman's purse. He pretended to ask for directions while slipping his hand into her purse and pulling her wallet out. It had had just over a hundred dollars. Luke, grudgingly, supposed that having his father be the god of thieves came in handy when you were on the run.

Alas, now he'd run out of money and now needed more if he wanted to eat tonight. He was waiting for someone to pass, but not a lot of people were out and about at this time. Just a scattered few and they all seemed to either expertly avoid the thirteen-year-old or were on the other side of the street. It was becoming frustrating.

Luke heard barking to his right. He turned his head and saw a suited man talking on a cell phone heading straight toward him. Even better, he was on the same side as Luke was. Luke smiled. Perfect.

Just then a golden retriever popped into view, jumping up on the suited man, barking loudly, tongue lolling out of its wide, gaping mouth.

"Get off!" the guy shouted. "Get off me!" He tried to pull away, but the dog followed loyally. "Hey! Hey—Hold on a sec, Scott." the man said into his phone before pushing the dog away, careful not to let its drool touch his bare hands. "Whose dog is this!" The words were no sooner out of his mouth before two more people came into view. A man and woman, a couple by the looks of it. The man held a red leash tightly in one of his hands.

"Rose!" the girl called breathlessly, as the guy lunged forward and grabbed hold of the dog's collar, trying to pull her away from the suit man.

"What is that mangy mutt doing of his leash! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" the guy barked, his face a beet red.

"I'm sorry sir." The girl said as her boyfriend tried to get Rose back on the leash, which was proving harder than it looked. "I guess the leash broke. We apologize—"

Mr. Suit glared down at the girl, "I don't want your apologies!" he snapped. "How inconsiderate is that?" He was now attacking the girl verbally. "Letting your dog attack me! You should be lucky that I'm not going to press charges."

This woman's boyfriend didn't seem to like how Mr. Suit was treating her and stepped in, letting go of Rose's collar. "Hey, no need to be that way, dude!" He yelled, letting his chest puff up.

Rose barked again and jumped to Mr. Suit who was fed up and done with all this. He decided to take it into his own hands and jammed his knee into the dog's chest. Rose yelped and staggered back.

Mr. Suit straightened his jacket, brought the phone back to his ear, and continued walking like nothing happened (although his eyebrows were fiercely knit together). The couple called him out on animal abuse, shouting and shaking their fists, but Mr. Suit ignored them.

"Sorry, Scott. Some couple's stupid dog." he complained.

Luke smiled and pushed away from the wall before starting toward the man. He looked straight ahead, careful not to meet the man's eyes, but also careful to keep on a collision course straight into him.

Luke counted his steps, _One, __two, __three, __four, __five_.

"Watch it kid!" the man snarled, veering back and sneering at him disgustedly. With an eye roll he quickly slipped past Luke. "Some people are just so self centered." he muttered into his phone.

Luke chuckled and grinned, turning to watch the man walk into the fractured sunset.

Hook, line, and sinker.

Luke twirled the small, square black wallet marveling at the fine leather.

Now it was off for some fast-food.

Still smiling Luke swiveled around only to almost become impaled right between the eyes with someone's… spear. He hadn't seen a nice spear like this one in a long while.

Luke's blue eyes trailed down the shaft to see who was wielding this kind of weapon. His first thought was monster, but if it were a monster he'd surely be dead by now. It was a girl. A little shorter than himself, probably two years younger than himself. She had a mess of spiky black hair, some freckles across her nose, and eyes the crackled and sparked an electrifying blue.

Demigod, like himself, Luke decided.

Before he could speak, the girl held out her free hand, palm up. She was staring at him intently.

"Hand it over, kid." she ordered in a very authoritative voice for an eleven-year-old.

Luke ignored the fact that she had the nerve to call him a kid and widened his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked taking the clueless route.

"You know exactly what I mean." the girl spoke. "The wallet. Hand it over. _Now_." she commanded.

"Oh, this!" Luke exclaimed holding up the wallet. The girl nodded looking at him with cautious eyes. Luke shoved the wallet into his pocket. "No way. This is mine. I plan to keep it."

The girl rolled his eyes and snorted. "I saw you take it from that jerk on the phone." She stepped forward the tip of her spear brushing against Luke's throat. Luke silently cursed, she had seen what happened. "Now hand it over. I'm not going to ask again."

Luke put his hands up. "Hey, I'm with you." he told her shrugging. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Half-blood, right? What's your name?" he asked.

The girl studied him for a moment longer before deciding it was okay. She lowered her spear and tried to hide her embarrassment. "I am Thalia, daughter of Zeus." she told him her chin held high.

"I'm Luke." Luke introduced, shoving his hands into his pockets, feeling it was safe to put them down now.

Thalia waited before finally asking, "Son of…" she trailed off waiting for Luke to finish her sentence.

Luke's jaw tightened. "Hermes." He finally managed to spit out. "You look hungry." He observed switching subjects. "Why don't we get a bite to eat. My treat." he said holding up the wallet and smiling.

Thalia rolled her eyes, but a smile pulled at her lips.

"Oh, all right. I guess I can spare a dinner with a stranger." she sighed melodramatically.

She wasn't half-bad. She could actually be an asset. Company. Someone to watch his back. Help fight monsters. It was a good deal. A companion. It had a nice ring to it.

* * *

><p>"You run away too?" Luke asked looking over at Thalia. She nodded but didn't say anything more. They were standing in an alley, side-by-side. Luke had just thrown away their trash not a moment ago.<p>

"Family?" Luke tried again, trying to get her speak. Still, she didn't utter a single word, she simply continued to stare down morosely at her feet. "Nice shoes." he commented trying to get her to at least smile. Instead she made a face. Luke rolled his eyes and repressed a snicker.

He looked up at the sky, leaning against the wall and putting his hands into his jacket pockets.

"It was just me and my mom." Luke told her looking around, not wanting to meet Thalia's eyes which were burning into his face.

"Why'd you run away?" she asked.

"My mom's crazy." Luke stated dryly. Thalia's eyes dropped. "She has these… _fits_." All his suppressed memories floated up to Luke's conscious. "Her eyes turn green, and her voice cracks and she spouts out—" He broke off realizing what he was saying. He didn't want her to know that she always seemed to talk about him. They'd just met. "…things." he murmured.

"I'm sorry." Thalia said quietly.

Luke shrugged.

"It was just me and my mom too." Thalia finally said. Luke leaned down and picked up a small rock. "She's a drunk." She paused before chuckling blackly. "Guess we've both got family issues, huh?" she asked looking over at him.

"Who needs them?" Luke said bitterly chucking the rock to the other side of the alley. It hit the wall opposite and bounced back, landing at his feet. He looked over at Thalia. "Why don't we start our own family?" he suggested.

"Uh, no offense, but I just met you." Thalia pointed out, her eyebrows knitting together, but rising slightly at the same time.

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, but you could use my experience. Been on the run for four years. I could teach you a thing or two." He nudged her with his elbow. "And I'd never abandon you like our parents did. We'd stick together and take care of each other, like a real family is supposed to do."

Thalia huffed. "For your information, I've been on the run for two years by myself, thank you very much. It's just this stupid city." she muttered crossing her arms.

"So, what do you say?" Luke asked ignoring what she'd just told him completely.

Thalia looked over at him, and Luke could just see the gears turning in her head. It was such a great deal, how could she refuse?

She opened her mouth to answer, but the trash cans nearby rattled. Thalia's straightened up, grabbing her spear. Luke stood up straight as well, scanning the area, his hand going to his bronze dagger.

"Did you hear that?" she asked in a whisper, looking around, trying to detect if anything was moving.

Luke was still scanning, but it had gotten pretty dark, it was hard to tell if there was a monster. "Yeah," he answered, suddenly remembering that he'd built a safe-house not too far from here. So, without another word, Luke took Thalia's hand and pulled her out of the alley. Her hands were kind of cold, but soft in a way.

"Wait, where are we going?" she asked almost sounding incredulous. "Shouldn't we find whatever that was and fight it?" Thalia asked running slightly behind Luke.

"Just somewhere we can stay for the night." Luke explained, looking around at the tops of the buildings. "I'm sure it'll be fine if we skip just this once." Luke paused a moment before turning down another alley.

"Is it safe?"

Luke grinned. "Completely."

"I don't know—" Thalia was still hesitant. Luke couldn't exactly understand why, though. He hoped someday soon, she'd come to trust him with her life.

Luke stopped and squeezed her hand. "We're family now, Thalia." He liked the way her name coming from his mouth sounded. "Trust me. I promise I won't let any harm come to you."

He started to take off again.

"Hey!" she yelled indignantly. "Now, wait a minute!" Thalia exclaimed ripping her hand from his and pushing herself so she could run next to Luke. She kept pace with him fairly well it surprised Luke. "I'm not a little girl. You may be older than me, but I know how to take care of myself, for your information."

Luke chuckled at her spunk. He liked that a lot about her.

* * *

><p>"Wow, you <em>made<em> this." Thalia commented as she stepped into the small shelter that Luke had built. It was finely camouflaged on the outside, and on the inside, Luke was sure, wasn't what Thalia was expecting. It was good-sized, it had an unrolled sleeping bag, blankets off to the side, an ice chest in the corner, and a kerosene lamp next to the head of the sleeping bag. It was currently on, the flame flickering.

There were also some weapons and a box of ambrosia. A couple of bronze javelin tips, a quiver of arrows and a sword. Getting those last few things were a tough part on Luke's part, but they were essential if he wanted to survive as a half-blood on the run.

Luke sat down on the sleeping bag and Thalia took a seat on the folded up blankets.

"It was nothing." Luke said smirking.

"Modest." Thalia stated dryly.

Luke shrugged.

That night the temperature dropped like a dead fly. Thalia insisted on sleeping in the blankets, but even those weren't enough. She needed something more than that, like a sleeping bag that was meant to handle this type of weather. Luke silently cursed of not thinking to having gotten another one. Then again, he was always alone.

"Thalia, you're going to freeze." Luke reasoned for the millionth time that night. Thalia glared at him, huddling in the pile of blankets, drawing them closer and tighter to her.

"I-I-I-I'm f-f-f-fine."

But obviously she wasn't. She was shivering violently, and she could barely talk, her teeth were chattering so much.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid."

Thalia's eyes narrowed. "W-w-w-w-well w-what d-do y-y-you suggest Eins-s-s-stein?" she shot back.

"I'm disappointed," Luke mocked. "It's survival one-oh-one!"

"J-j-just t-tell me, d-d-dammit." Thalia ordered holding the blankets even closer, trying to stay warm.

Luke started to unzip the zipper of his sleeping bag.

"O-o-oh no! N-n-not h-happening!" Thalia turned her back on him, curling even more, trying to keep the body heat that was left in her body.

Luke slipped out and went to kneel over Thalia. Why did she have to be so stubborn?

"I'm not going to let you freeze." he told her gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "And you know you're going to if you don't get into that sleeping bag." His voice became stern.

Thalia turned her head so she could look at Luke.

Luke's eyes narrowed as he realized something. "And you know it, don't you." Thalia rolled her eyes grudgingly. "I don't bite." Luke joked. Thalia huffed and pulled the blankets over her again. "I'm not going to hurt you. You can trust me." he reminded her softly.

He could see her contemplate this.

"O-o-okay." Thalia muttered throwing the blankets off. With a secret smile, Luke moved out of the way and she crawled over into the sleeping bag. Luke waited patiently as she situated herself. When she was comfortable, Luke crawled in after her slowly, a little hesitant now. It was kind of awkward sleeping with a girl, so close. (Even at a time like this.) When he'd gotten his own self situated he zipped up the zipper. There was probably half an inch room left.

Thalia convulsed once in a harsh shiver, as she realized just how cold she'd been. The warmth was refreshing, relieving.

Luke put his arms around her tightly—forgetting suddenly about the awkwardness of the situation—holding her to his chest, the only thing running through his mind was she needed to get warm again, and she didn't object or seem to mind.

"Better?" he asked after a few minutes.

"A-a-almost b-better," she answered her teeth still chattering slightly, her body still trembling. Thalia huddled closer to Luke, resting her head on his shoulder. Luke flinched at just how cold she still was.

"S-s-sorry," Thalia mumbled closing her eyes, her shivers becoming less and less.

Luke rubbed her arm, trying to generate heat. "It's fine." he said after a moment.

Thalia took a deep breath and Luke could feel her whole body relax against his.

Luke looked down at her. Her eyes were closed, peacefully. He resisted the urge to stroke her cheek. She kind of reminded him of Snow White, only better because she had a perfect splash of freckles. She wasn't Disney "perfect" and Luke found that intriguing.

"You're lips are still blue," he stated amused. "Would you like me to warm those up for you too?"

Thalia opened her eyes to glare up at him. "Watch it buddy or you may find yourself not being able to have kids in the future." she warned.

"Joking, joking," Luke assured, having a feeling she wouldn't hesitate to hurt him if he tried anything, even as a joke.

Thalia closed her eyes again. "Yeah, you'd better be." she muttered. Luke chuckled softly and Thalia made an annoyed noise in response. It became quiet in the little half-blood hideout and the two drifted into sleep, Luke's mind marveling how Thalia's hair brushed softly up against his neck.

**There you go! I'll update as soon as I can. Again, hope you enjoyed.**

**.happiness.**

**~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!**


	3. Three

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson**

γάμα—Gamma

It had officially been two years since Luke and Thalia had met. The first few weeks had been something of an adventure. It was different than being alone. Not only could they watch each other's backs, but their personalities really complimented each other. If/when needed, Luke would steal money for food. Thalia was a natural-born leader and always had a plan devised when they ran into monsters. They were both very good fighters and after learning each other's skills throughout the two years, they were a force to be reckoned with.

Thalia had been a great companion to have. She was funny at times, serious when she needed to be, kind of… cute. But they were still young. Thinking about something like that was a little too advanced for Luke, a fourteen-year-old demigod, on the run, avoiding monsters, that'd grown up with a mother who wasn't all there.

For the first time in a long time, Luke had felt that he had a family, even if it'd only been with her. She was all he had now.

Right now the duo was crouched in the shadows between two, large brick warehouses. Their eyes were wide, scanning everywhere every five seconds, their breaths ragged and shallow, so as to not alert whatever was down there. They hadn't eaten in at least three days now but they'd learned to block the hunger pains.

"Are you sure?" Thalia asked Luke, tightening her grip on the shaft of her spear, her shield Aegis—a gift from her father with the face of Medusa engraved within it—out and ready to defend. Luke held his bronze knife.

Luke nodded. "Something's down there. I sense it." Just as he said this a low rumble echoed through the alleyway, hitting the two half-blood's ears. They turned their heads down the alley for a moment before turning to look at each other again. With a nod they started slowly and stealthily creeping forward. They came out of the alley and onto a loading dock where some old crates were stacked up.

If they hadn't been mistaken, the noise had come from somewhere around the crates.

There was a veil of tin leaning against the pile of crates and it shook, like something was shifting behind it, hiding. Thalia looked over at Luke.

"One," he mouthed, "Two, three!" Luke ripped away the tin and had barely anytime to let go of it before a little girl jumped at him, blindly swinging a hammer, tightly gripped in her tiny hand.

"Whoa!" Luke exclaimed veering back. She was like a flash of yellow, with her blonde hair as she came down on him. But thanks to years of training with quick moving monsters Luke managed to reach out and stop the girl's hammer from splitting his head open, his hand closing fully around her wrist. The hammer flew out of her hand, but she continued to struggle and kick. Luke dodged as best he could.

"No more monsters! Go away!" she cried her blonde hair flying everywhere. Luke fought to keep hold of her.

"It's okay!" Luke tried to reassure. "Thalia, put your shield up, your scaring her." he ordered.

Thalia tapped Aegis and it spun back into a silver chain bracelet.

"Hey, it's all right," she told the girl in a gentle voice. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke." she introduced.

"Monsters!" the girl objected still.

"No," Luke assured again. "But we know all about monsters. We fight them too."

Finally, her thrashing slowed and then stopped, giving Luke time to assess who she was as she assessed who they were. She was young, way young, like maybe seven at the oldest. Her hair was tangled and messy, and she only wore flannel pajamas, like she'd woken up in the middle of the night and just decided to run away. But her eyes were different. Despite being seven, they were wide grey eyes that sparkled with intelligence.

"You're like me?" she asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Luke nodded. "We're…" he trailed off. "Well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"

The girl glared off to the side. "My family hates me." she declared. "They don't want me. I ran away."

Luke looked over at Thalia just as she looked over at him. They exchanged a knowing glance before looking back at the girl.

"What's your name, kiddo?" Thalia asked.

"Annabeth."

A smile lit up Luke's blue eyes. "I'll tell you what, Annabeth—you're a pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."

"You could?" Annabeth asked her eyes widening with anticipation.

"Oh, yeah." Luke nodded while turning his knife so that the Annabeth could take the hilt. "How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon? This is Celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer." Annabeth gripped the hilt like her life depended on it. "Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters," Luke was explaining. "They don't have the reach or the power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling your pretty clever."

Annabeth stared up at him like he was the nicest person she'd ever met. "I am!" she exclaimed.

Thalia grinned. "We'd better get going, Annabeth." she said, but her voice seemed a bit… off. Luke couldn't really pinpoint why, but it did. He looked over at her questioningly, but Thalia kept her gaze on Annabeth as she continued. "We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food."

"You're… you're not going to take me back to my family?" the seven-year-old girl asked, fear creeping into her tone. "Promise?"

Luke put a hand on her shoulder. "You're part of _our_ family now. And I promise I won't let anything hurt you. I'm _not_ going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"

"Deal!" Annabeth agreed enthusiastically.

"Now, come on," Thalia said. "We can't stay put for long!"

* * *

><p>"We can't keep doing this, you know." Thalia stated, her eyes trained on Annabeth who was currently gathering a bunch of fallen branches from around the park they were at. Some big some small. She was only a few feet away from the two sitting on one of the park benches, but who knew what monster could pop up at any moment.<p>

That's why, as Thalia watched Annabeth, Luke scanned the surrounding area looking for anything out of the ordinary. His bronze sword he'd acquired was resting in his lap so he could grab it at a moment's notice.

"I know, but what choice do we have?" Luke asked a little harsher than he meant to.

"Well I'm sorry for thinking about others." Thalia snapped turning to glare at him. Luke's head turned as well and he locked eyes with hers. "Three half-bloods can't hide forever. Our smell is probably the strongest in this area. More monsters are going to come and there is going to be a day that we are going to be overwhelmed. There has to be a place we can go where we're not always in danger.

"It's especially hazardous because of who my father is. My stench is, like, twice as potent. And I have no way of hiding it." Her voice was low as she told him this to not worry Annabeth, but it was rising in volume with every word.

"Oh, so, now Annabeth and I aren't as important as the daughter of the almighty Zeus?" Luke hissed.

Thalia glanced warily up at the sky. "I'm not saying that." she spat back. "I'm only saying that a monster could track us from miles away with a smell like ours."

"Why are you being so snarky?" Luke asked. "Ever since Annabeth joined us—" he broke off and realized what was going on here. A smirk pulled at the edge of Luke's lips. "Thalia, you are not _jealous_ of that cute, innocent little girl are you?" he asked.

Thalia huffed and looked away, making sure Annabeth was still there playing around with her sticks. She was, but it looked like she was modeling something out of them. Thalia couldn't really tell what though, she was too busy being angry at Luke.

"She's seven, Thalia!" Luke exclaimed chuckling. "You know I care about you _both_ equally." He took her hand and ignored the warm tingling that zipped up his arm. "We're a family, remember?"

Thalia pursed her lips and continued to glower at the small lake at the middle of the park.

"Haven't you seen the way Annabeth looks at you?" Thalia asked finally looking over at him.

Luke rolled his eyes. "_She__'__s __seven, __Thalia_." he repeated. "She looks up to me—to both of us—because we're older and have more experience. Don't worry about it. I have enough room to love two girls in my life." Luke winked.

Thalia rolled her eyes and realized something. She stood, spear in hand.

"Where's Annabeth?" she asked her voice tight.

Luke stood too, grabbing his sword. He looked around frantically and cussed when he couldn't find her anywhere in sight. They'd only looked away for a moment.

_But __a __moment __is __all __it __takes._

"We need to find her, quick." Luke said.

"But where to start?"

"The shelter. If something happened and she escapes she'll most likely go to the shelter. We'd better get moving."

They nodded and took off running leaving the park, the bench, and the replica of the Eiffel Tower made from sticks standing where Annabeth had previously been.

Luke looked up to see a pillar of black smoke rising into the sky, like a cluster a ravens or crows. He looked back over at Thalia; that was where there shelter was. They continued to run and then silently crept closer within 100 feet. They didn't want to risk getting caught if it was monsters that were torching their hideout.

Careful not to breathe too loudly Luke and Thalia hid behind trees and peeked out at what was going on. At least five telekhines from what Luke could see. Three were older, two were younger. One eldest was managing the two younger ones who were holding torches and poking at what was left of their shelter. The other two older ones were guarding Annabeth.

Annabeth looked up and spotted Luke and Thalia. Luke held a finger to his lips and she nodded in understanding. Then he held up his sword slightly, silently asking if she still had her weapon. She nodded again.

Luke turned toward Thalia. She looked over at the telekhines before dashing over to his side and together, they quickly devised a plan.

Thalia glanced back at Annabeth and mouthed, "Distract them."

Annabeth nodded bravely. Thalia and Luke then quickly snuck around the perimeter, getting closer to the telekhine guards. Meanwhile, Annabeth had taken out the Celestial bronze knife Luke had given her. She glanced warily at the three other telehines that were torching their shelter before turning back to her guards and stabbing one of them. It was small, not enough to disintegrate it.

It turned but before it could say anything, let alone growl, Luke lunged forward and slashed with his sword. Thalia jabbed with her spear and both guards evaporated into dust. The three still standing in front of the fire, hadn't even batted an eye. Thankfully, their backs were turned on the three half-bloods.

Luke took Annabeth's hand the three of them tip-toed a few feet away, behind some brambles.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked in a whisper, glancing up at the monsters once in a while.

Annabeth nodded and wiped away some of her tears. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I-I… I just wanted to get something and I guess they followed me—"

"It's okay. We don't blame you. As long as you're safe then everything is fine." Thalia assured quietly. "Now we should really get going"—she suggested as all three of them turned around only to come face to face with two elephant-sized hellhounds—"before more show up." she finished miserably.

The hellhounds growled, crouching low, glaring at the trio murderously.

"Half-bloods!" something snarled behind them. Luke looked to see the only elder telekhine left looking at them.

He looked back at the hellhounds. "Annabeth, stay here, I'll take the telekhines, Thalia you take the hellhounds." Luke ordered quietly not taking his eyes off the monsters in front of him.

"I can help," Annabeth objected.

"You can help me, Annabeth. Just be careful, okay. Don't be afraid to scream if you need help." Thalia quickly interjected.

"Go." Luke ordered turning to face the approaching telekhines as Thalia and Annabeth charged toward the hellhounds. Getting one of the younger telekhines was easy to do. Its torch dropped to the forest floor and the eldest picked it up, snarling.

Luke met his gaze evenly. He jabbed at the other younger one testing it. Learning from its friend he quickly jumped back, avoiding the double-edged blade. The elder slashed with the flaming torch and Luke blocked just in time. The fire so close to his face, he could feel the heat against his cheek. With some effort, Luke shoved the telekhine away before going after the other. He may have been young, but it was becoming apparent this telekhine knew what he was doing. He dodged and blocked Luke's advances. Still, he was somewhat inexperienced because as soon as Luke feigned a blow to the head, he slashed the young telekhine clean in half.

Then there was one.

"Just back off," it growled in its demonic, Underworld-dwelling voice as he jabbed. Luke expertly jumped back, avoiding being toasted. "It's not you we want, half-blood." It smiled, showing its canines. "Of course, one less half-blood would be easier on us."

Luke slashed, the telekhine easily blocking. "Then what is it you want?" he asked trying to strike a different area, which was proving harder than Luke had originally thought.

"Zeus has broken he sacred oath. Hades had sent us to punish Zeus by ridding the world of his daughter."

"Over my dead body," Luke spat.

"More will come, demigod. You cannot stop Hades from achieving his goal. The girl _will_ die."

The battle became more heated as both of them slashed and jabbed, dodged and blocked. But Luke was not going to let this telekhine get past him. No one was going to hurt Thalia, or Annabeth on his watch. Finally, the telekhine slipped up and Luke jabbed, his sword going through and through. The telekhine burst into a show of dust.

Breathing heavily, Luke turned to look around for Thalia and Annabeth. They were no were to be seen. His heart pounded in his throat.

"Annabeth!" he called. "Thalia!" For a moment he panicked, thinking the worst when Annabeth came rushing forth.

"Come!" she panted. "This way!" She grabbed his hand and started dragging him in the direction she'd come.

"Where's Thalia?" Luke asked breathless. When Annabeth didn't answer a cold stone formed in the pit of Luke's stomach.

It could've been yards, it could've miles, but they finally got to a small clearing. Thalia was sitting on the ground, holding one of her legs, her face a mask of pain.

Luke ran up to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked trying to see where she'd been injured.

"No, my leg." Thalia gasped through clenched teeth. Luke looked down and noticed the three, long lacerations across the back of her leg. The blood was dark in the dimming light as it slid down her ankle, and dropped to the ground.

The telekhine's words rang in Luke's ears: _More __will __come._ More _would_ come. More _were_ coming already. Luke could sense it.

"Can you walk on it?" Luke asked his voice strained.

"What, what's wrong?" Thalia asked, knowing him well enough to know that they weren't out of the woods yet.

"There's more." he whispered. "We need to get moving. I know… I know where we can go to get your leg fixed up, if you can walk on it."

Thalia started to get up, ignoring the inflammation of pain throughout her body. "Yeah, I can." she grunted, limping over to grab her spear which had been lying a few feet away from her. "Let's go."

Luke and Annabeth looked at her skeptically, but when rustling and what sounded like slithering, started up somewhere behind them, they started to quickly make their way toward Luke's old home.

* * *

><p>"Just a little father!" Luke said, his chest heaving. Annabeth stumbled and almost fell over, but Luke quickly caught her and grabbed her hand. "How are you holding up?" he called back to Thalia.<p>

Thalia drove the telekhine back and jabbed him with her spear. He evaporated into dust.

"Fine." she answered. "Got the last one."

"For now." Luke said grimly.

The three of them clambered up a small hill and stood at the top of a ridge overlooking a white Colonial house.

Luke's old home.

May Castellan's house.

"All right," Luke said trying to catch his breath. "I'll just sneak in and grab some food and medicine. Wait here."

"Luke, are you sure?" Thalia questioned. "You swore you'd never come back here. If she catches you—"

"We don't have a choice." he growled, cutting her off. "They burned our nearest safe house." His eyes softened. "And you've got to treat that leg wound."

"This is your house?" Annabeth asked looking down at the white Colonial with a new perspective.

"It _was_ my house," Luke muttered grudgingly, remembering his mother's green eyes. "Believe me, if it wasn't an emergency—"

"Is your mom really horrible?" Annabeth asked interrupting him. "Can we see her?"

"No!" Luke snapped, the stress of being back here wearing on him.

Annabeth pulled her hand out of his and took a step back.

Luke sighed. "I… I'm sorry," he mumbled. "Just wait here. I promise everything will be okay." He glanced back towards the woods. "Nothing's going to hurt you. I'll be back—"

The trio flinched and averted their eyes, holding their hands up instinctively, as a flash of light as bright as the sun appeared before them.

"You should not have come home." a powerful voice thundered.

**Hope you enjoyed! I'll update sooner because it's Thanksgiving Break!**

**.happiness.**

**~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!**


	4. Four

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson**

δέλτα—Delta

Hermes walked into the house, the hundreds of candles scattered around the living room ignited, flickering and burning brightly, all the mirrors behind the candles reflecting back their golden-orange flames. It was a little disorienting at first, but Luke was too angry to notice any of that.

May's head peeked around the corner from the hallways.

"Hermes, is that you?" she asked stepping out.

Luke looked down at the floor, hoping beyond hope she wouldn't notice him. Memories of her green eyes and rasping voice replying behind his eyes. His prayers to his father always answered with absolute silence.

Hermes walked up to May and put his arms around her gently. They stood like that for a moment, May's unnaturally stretched smile on her face. Luke continued to glare at the floor cursing himself for ever coming back here. He should've just stolen something from the nearest store. It would've worked just as well…. His eyes caught Thalia, who was leaning heavily on a chair. She looked pallid in the candlelight, and a thin sheen of sweat had formed on her face. Her eyes looked tired and pained.

Her leg wounds were still oozing blood, and an angry red.

Luke let out a small sigh. Here was the closest, fastest way. Thalia wouldn't have been able to make it any farther.

"Come on, dear, and I'll fix that leg up for you? And maybe a snack, hm?" May asked breaking Luke out of his bubble. Thalia pushed away from the chair and warily followed May into the kitchen. Annabeth hesitantly trailed behind Thalia, glancing back at Luke, who was now glaring at Hermes.

Hermes's head was bowed, but he finally looked up at his son and took a few steps forward. Luke mirrored him, taking a few steps back, tensing, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists at his side.

There were so many things that Luke wanted to say.

"Why show yourself now?" He finally decided, asking through clenched teeth. "All these years I've been calling to you," he said remembering his prayers through his many tears as his mother lunged at him with clawed hands. "Praying you'd show up, and _nothing_. You left me with _her_." One of his hands shot up, pointing a finger at his mother who was bandaging Thalia's leg in the kitchen. He couldn't look at her, couldn't even call her Mom. She hadn't been a mom, she didn't deserve that kind of title; just like Hermes didn't deserve the title of "Father".

"Luke, do not dishonor her," Hermes warned slowly. "Your mother did the best she could. As for me, I could not interfere with your path. The children of the gods must find their own way."

"So it was for my own good. Growing up on the streets, fending for myself, fighting monsters." Luke spat angered that Hermes didn't seem to care at all for him. Not that Luke really cared anymore anyway.

Hermes met Luke's eyes. "You're my son," he said. "I knew you had the ability. When I was only a baby, I crawled from my cradle and set out for—"

"I'm not a god!" Luke shouted, his nails digging into his palms. "Just once, you could've said something. You could've helped when"—Luke took a shaky breath, all the pain flooding over him again, and lowered his voice—"when she was having one of her _fits_, shaking me and saying crazy things about my fate." Luke gritted his teeth as tears welled up behind his eyes. No, he wouldn't let Hermes see him cry. Never. He swallowed hard and continued. "When I used to hide in the closet so she wouldn't find me with those… those glowing eyes. Did you even _care_ that I was scared? Did you even know when I finally ran away?"

Out of the corner of Luke's eyes Annabeth caught his attention. He chanced a fleeting glance. She held up a burnt cookie and mouthed, _Can __we __go __now?_

"Luke," Hermes started. Luke's head snapped back to Hermes. "I care very much, but gods must not interfere directly in mortal affairs. It is one of our Ancient Laws. Especially when your destiny…" Hermes trailed off and broke contact with Luke who's interest peaked.

His fate? Hermes knew his fate? He knew what May had always spouted out when he was little?

"What?" Luke asked feverishly. "What about my destiny?" he demanded.

"You should not have come back," Hermes muttered, ignoring Luke. "It only upsets you both. However, I see now that you are getting too old to be on the run without help. I'll speak with Chiron at Camp Half-Blood and ask him to send a satyr to collect you."

Luke looked at Hermes distastefully. "We're doing fine without your help," he growled not believing that Hermes suddenly wanted to help after years of silence on his end. "Now, what about my destiny?" he asked again.

Hermes didn't answer; instead he stared morbidly as his son. It was in that singular moment did Luke decide that Hermes did, for a fact, know his fate, know exactly what was going to happen to him in the future.

"My son," he finally said. Luke cringed. Son. He was still Hermes's son. "I'm the god of travelers, the god of loads. If I know anything, I know that you must walk your own path, even though it tears my heart."

It was all lies. All Hermes spouted was lie after lie.

Luke shook his head once. "You don't love me." he said, his voice steady.

The look in Hermes's eyes almost convinced Luke that he did care about him.

Almost.

"I promise I… I do love you." And the falter in his sentence brought the house crumbling to the ground. "Go to camp. I will see that you get a quest soon. Perhaps you can defeat the Hydra, or steal the apples of Hesperides." Hermes's eyes tightened and his voice became an choked whisper. "You will get a chance to be a great hero before…"

Luke's breath caught. Was it so bad? Was his fate so horrible that Hermes was desperate to make him a hero in other's eyes? "Before what?" Luke asked his voice trembling, unable to hold back all the emotions washing over him. "What did my mom see that made her like this?" he demanded. "What's going to happen to me? If you love me, _tell_ me."

The dam almost burst. It'd all been a lie about not caring what his father thought. He wanted to love his father, he did, really, but this was almost too much. Why couldn't Hermes see this? Why couldn't he just tell him his fate? Maybe it didn't have to end the way Hermes knew. Maybe they could change it together.

"I cannot."

Luke's last hope shattered and the world around him fell to pieces.

"Then you don't care!" he shouted.

The kitchen fell silent.

"Luke?" May called. "Is that you? Is my boy all right?"

Luke's heart jumped in his chest those green eyes flashing in his mind. He quickly turned away, realizing that his eyes were flooding with tears. If he so much as blinked they'd come spilling over.

"I'm fine." Luke answered. "I have a new family. I don't need either of you."

"I'm your father," Hermes insisted.

There it was again.

Luke glared at his "father".

"A _father_ is supposed to be around. I've never even _met_ you." he spat. "Thalia, Annabeth, come on! We're leaving!"

"My boy, don't go!" May called. "I have your lunch ready!"

Luke quickly thundered out, before she could get any closer to him, not really bothering to look if Thalia and Annabeth were behind him. He was too angry right now. He stormed down the sidewalk without a backward glance.

Fine, so be it then.

It didn't matter. None of it mattered.

He didn't have a mom or a dad. Thalia and Annabeth were his family now.

It didn't matter that Hermes didn't care enough to tell him his fate. His horrible, horrible fate that made him look Luke like he was going to die…. No, worse than that.

As if anything could be worse than death.

"_Luke __Castellan!_" Thalia's voice broke through the barrier surrounding Luke. He stopped and waited, breathing hard.

Thalia took Annabeth's hand and together they slowly caught up to Luke. Annabeth hid slightly behind Thalia, having never seen Luke this angry before.

"I know you're angry—" Thalia started.

Luke spun on her. Annabeth took a step back and Thalia leaned back slightly. "Angry!" he shrieked. "You think I'm _angry_? I'm furious! I ran away five years ago! And _now_ he decides to show up? Now!"

"Hey, now, wait just a minute!" Thalia shouted back, standing up to him bravely. "Don't go taking your anger on me! I did not do anything to you! You need to calm down, Luke. I don't like seeing you like this." Her voice shook as it lowered and Luke could see how much she really cared. "When you're angry you do stupid things. And stupid things cause people to get hurt. I don't want you to do something stupid." Luke opened his mouth, his eyebrows still furrowed angrily, but Thalia continued on before he could interrupt her again. "I don't want you to get hurt.

"We're family, remember? We take care of each other. Always." she reminded him.

Luke stared down at the raven-haired girl, blue melding with blue, and with a few deep breaths realized she was right. But that anger was still there, roiling inside of him. Hermes didn't believe in him. That was it. That was why. Hermes didn't care about him. He _never_ cared about him. Maybe if he proved he was worthy of knowing his fate…. Maybe if Hermes saw that he was strong enough to handle knowing his fate.

* * *

><p>Thalia shook her head. "No." she told him firmly, her electric blue eyes alight.<p>

"Come on, Thalia." Luke had been expecting that, but all he could think was how amazing it would be to beat such a monster. "Just think how gratifying it would be to know _we_ took on a sphinx!" he tried to coax.

"No, Luke," Thalia whispered through clenched teeth, careful not to attract the sphinx's attention. "It is too dangerous!" She pronounced the words slowly. "We don't have the weapons or the training. A sphinx is a powerful monster that could kill you in one blow. I'm not going to run into a losing battle and neither are you. You're smarter than that. I _know_ you are.

"And you have to think about Annabeth too. We can't put her in that kind of danger if we can't beat it. What happens if she wakes up to find us slaughtered and a sphinx chewing on our—"

"Thalia," Luke stopped her.

Annabeth was currently sleeping in the safe house they'd made. The sphinx had been wandering by and Luke, of course, had to spot it. He'd been up thinking about everything that had happened throughout his whole life, sitting outside the safe house.

Right now it was fairly close to their shelter, like only several yards fairly close.

"It's not a losing battle. You haven't even tried." Luke pressed.

Thalia shook her head slowly, thinking about this, her teeth digging into her lower lip. "I don't know, Luke…" she trailed off her eyes straying to the sphinx, which thankfully still hadn't noticed them.

"You're either with me or against me, Thalia." he finally decided, giving her no choice but to go into battle with him. He knew it wasn't very fair to her, forcing her into something like this. But he also knew that he wouldn't be able to beat this sphinx by himself. Together they'd have a better chance of dusting this monster.

The fight flashed before Luke, like a bad memory, only because of what would come from it. In retrospect it really was his fault for doing something so stupid. But he hadn't a clear head then. He couldn't do anything about that now, though. Now, it was too late.

For Thalia.

For Annabeth.

For him.

Thalia and Luke were a great tag-team, striking and dodging out while the other did the same, from all sides so that the sphinx couldn't land a hit. But they were tiring quickly and the sphinx had just been angered and was roaring so loud car alarms went off outside of the small forest they were staying in for that day.

Then, Thalia slipped up and was hit with one of the sphinx's paws. She flew a good ten feet back, the breath being knocked from her lungs. Luke dashed toward her, pushing himself as hard as he could so he could get there before the sphinx could. If anyone was going to die, it'd be him because he'd forced Thalia into this.

Thalia, was on the ground, her blue eyes wide, her mouth hanging open. His heart jumped in his chest, the feeling of not making it in time washing over him.

With one last push, Luke managed to get to Thalia and quickly jumped in front of her, his sword at the ready as the sphinx roared and lifted onto its hind legs, going to pounce, its two-foot-long claws unsheathed and ready to shred.

"_No!_" Thalia's cry pierced the air as the sphinx came down upon Luke.

Out of the clear night sky the sound of a hunting horn pierced the air, drowning out the sphinx's bellows and stopping its razor sharp claws inches from Luke's shoulders. Its human face twisted into a mask of hatred and fear at the same time.

Luke's mouth hung open, taking in a shocked breath as the sphinx backed up on its hind legs before planting all fours on the ground again.

"Get away! Get away you nasty girls!" the sphinx cried, backing up more, looking beyond Luke and Thalia, behind them into the dark of the woods.

Thalia stood and Luke walked over to her, putting a hand on her arm.

"Are you all right?" Luke murmured in her ear, trying to ignore how, even after years of travel through woods and mud and rain and snow, she smelled absolutely wonderful.

Thalia nodded wordlessly, her eyes slightly glazed over.

Behind the duo the sphinx reared back again just as a silver arrow whistled past Thalia's head, leaving a streak of moonlight in its path, and shot right through the sphinx almost inaudibly.

From the gloom floated a voice, "Permission to kill, my lady?" The voice had an edge to it, an accent, but it was hard to place. Luke had never heard an accent like that, it sounded kind of… old. Based on the look, Thalia had never heard that type of accent either.

The two demigods exchanged a glance, making sure they'd both heard it. Because at least that meant they weren't crazy or they were crazy together.

"Zoë, permission granted." another voice answered.

"Fire!" the first voice ordered.

"Duck!" Luke shouted grabbing Thalia's arm. They hit the ground just as more silver arrows came whizzing over their heads.

The sphinx barely had time to growl she was already disappearing, whimpering something about grading papers by hand for eternity… from what Luke could distinguish at least. It was like hearing the other voices. This forest must've been haunted or just a monster hive of some kind.

After another moment of silence, Luke pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand for Thalia. She put her warm, soft hand in his and had started pulling herself up when the mysterious voices materialized into something solid and human.

They were all girls, about a dozen or so of them. The youngest was probably ten, while the oldest was probably fourteen. They all wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, armed with bows which were at the ready just in case. Hopefully they wouldn't assume Luke and Thalia were some kind of weird-looking human monsters and shoot.

They all had determined expressions.

Two girls stepped ahead of the rest of the pack.

One was older. She was tall and walked with grace, even with all uneven terrain here. Her skin was an interesting copper color, and unlike the other girls a silver circlet was braided into the top of her long, dark hair. Luke hated to admit it, but this girl was beautiful.

Out of the corners of his eyes, Luke noticed Thalia straighten her shirt and brush her now somewhat grown out hair behind her ears. These girls may have been pretty but nothing really compared to Thalia's beauty….

The second girl was maybe a year or two younger than Thalia. She had auburn hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes glowed a grayish, silvery-ish color, like the full moon. Her expression was authoritative and almost scary.

Luke had a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Thalia rubbed her eyes and blinked hard, making Luke feel bad for waking her up in the middle of the night. She was probably questioning her sanity right about now. She was just tired, and sleepy, which made Luke only feel worse about the situation he'd gotten them in.

"Two half-bloods, my lady." the eldest of the two announced.

The auburn-haired girl examined them with cold eyes. Well, Luke at least, which gave him an even worse feeling. What was so wrong with him?

"Yes," she finally said, her eyes narrowing. "Not of Chiron's camp, though." And the hits just kept on coming! Now Luke knew for sure who this was and he wasn't one bit happy about it.

"Wait, wait," Thalia begged, wobbling she was so fatigued. "It's too late for this. And I'm really tired. Who are you people?" Luke looked at the auburn-haired girl, hoping that she'd excuse Thalia's crude language. You couldn't blame her anyway.

The two girls exchanged a look before the auburn-haired girl nodded, like she was approving of something. The older of them then stepped forward.

"Zoë Nightshade, lieutenant of the Hunters." she said.

Then the auburn-haired girl stepped forward, her eyes burning bright, but not as cold as before, as she looked at Thalia. "I am Artemis," she said. "Goddess of the Hunt."

**Wow, it just keeps getting longer and longer…. Hope you enjoyed!**

**thank-you-for-everything**

**~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!**


	5. Five

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson**

έψιλοv—Epsilon

Luke caught Thalia when she fainted. He didn't blame her it'd been a long, stressful night. For both of them. But he couldn't afford to pass out, who would've caught Thalia?

"Luke! Thalia!" Annabeth's voice called. Luke turned his head and looked behind him to see a small girl with fiery blonde hair running toward him. "There you are! When I woke up and you weren't there, I thought—" Annabeth broke off when she got closer and noticed the other girls.

Artemis's eyes softened. "Hello, young one," she said gently. "What's your name?"

Annabeth looked up at Luke for approval. He nodded stiffly. She looked back at Artemis.

"A-Annabeth." she stuttered quietly.

"That's a very fitting name," Artemis commented. She turned back to her Hunters. "Let us set up camp." she instructed. "So that these two young ladies may rest."

Luke ignored this passive aggressive insult.

The Hunters set camp up in only a few minutes. It was like Luke had gone through a time warp. One moment Luke was standing there, holding Thalia and the next he's sitting on a log in front of a blazing fire with silver tents made of silk shaped in a crescent moon, Thalia and Annabeth resting in one of their tents. Surrounding the camp were white timber wolves and falcons in the trees.

Luke glared at the fire, it kept him warm, sure, but the Hunters' cold demeanor was starting to get on his nerves. He understood that they didn't like boys, being with Artemis and all, but still, they didn't have to leave him outside all alone. If Annabeth and Thalia hadn't been here he would've been back in their own shelter sleeping peacefully.

"Thalia Grace," Luke recognized Zoë Nightshade's old-accent. He didn't bother to look. If Thalia was being called by Zoë Nightshade then it had nothing to do with him and must've been important. He didn't think that Zoë Nightshade would appreciate that. "Come, Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee." she spoke.

Out of the corners of Luke's eyes he saw Thalia and Zoë duck into the last tent. Luke sighed heavily leaning forward and resting his crossed arms on his knees before resting his chin on his arms. He glowered at the fire. Couldn't the sun rise yet so they could get going? He'd rather be at Camp Half-Blood right now than here.

"Luke?"

Luke turned to see Annabeth, her head poked out from one of the tents. He couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked as she came out of the tent and run up to the fire to sit next to him on the log.

"I had a nightmare." she said.

"You wanna tell me about it?" he asked mussing her hair up. She made a face and stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled.

Annabeth sighed heavily and looked into the fire. "Just my family." she mumbled glumly.

Luke put an arm around her and rubbing her arm soothingly. "We're your family now."

Annabeth looked up at him and he smiled. A slow smile formed on her adorable little face as well.

Luke looked back at the fire again, but through the flames he saw Thalia's black hair. He thought about calling to her, but she looked a little distraught and needed some time alone to think. So, he held his tongue.

Sighing he looked back at Annabeth, her eyes were drooping and she looked extremely sleepy.

"Maybe you should go get some more rest, Annabeth." he suggested quietly.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "But I'm not tired."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Still, it's warmer and more comfortable inside. And you're a growing girl, you need your sleep."

"Okay," Annabeth mumbled still rubbing her eyes. Luke made sure that she got safely into the tent before turning back around.

Now Zoë was talking to Thalia. It looked fine at first, but it seemed to get more heated with every word that was spoken between them.

"I'm _not_ alone!" Thalia's voice rose over the flames and hit Luke. What were they arguing about?

Zoë pointed in Luke's direction and responded, "You call _that_ a family?"

It was like squeezing lemon juice into his open wounds. What was wrong with him? Besides being a guy. Then again, what was wrong with being a guy? It wasn't fair, why did everyone always have to show respect to the gods when they never got it back. All they were, were pawns to the gods. They could care less about what happened to them, as long as they gained from it. It absolutely infuriated Luke.

Thalia coming to sit next to him brought Luke back to the present.

"Anything good on tonight?" Thalia joked playfully shoving him.

He rolled his eyes and shoved back.

"Um, if I may ask, what did Zoë Nightshade want from you?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

Thalia pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Artemis asked me to join the Hunters." she said slowly.

Luke's heart jumped in his chest. It was probably bad of him, but he hoped that the fight Thalia had with Zoë Nightshade had meant she'd said no. Still, he had to be sure.

"What… what did you say?" he asked quietly, too afraid to meet her gaze.

"I turned it down," Thalia said looking over at him with clear, electric blue eyes. Luke looked back.

"Really? Why?" Thalia's face fell. "I mean, it's not that I'm not… glad, but—What I'm trying to say is—Well, you see… I just—"

Thalia laughed. "Okay, okay, calm down. I said no because I can't abandon my family." She took his hand into hers, a smile lighting up her eyes.

Luke did something really impulsive then, he leaned forward and kissed Thalia. It was probably the most dangerous thing he could've done throughout his entire life. Kissing a girl who'd just turned down the Hunters, in Artemis's presence. But, in that singular moment, it didn't really matter.

Thalia froze for a second shocked at his gesture, but her eyes slid closed and she kissed him back.

When they pulled back it became awkward between them. What were you supposed to say after that first kiss? They could barely even look at each other it was so awkward. All the noise was the sound of the crackling fire.

* * *

><p>The next morning the Hunters broke camp just as fast as they had set it up and left without a single word to the trio. Nothing about Camp Half-Blood and nothing about the decision Artemis had presented Thalia. Not even a goodbye to Annabeth who Artemis had seemed to like a whole bunch more than Luke and Thalia.<p>

Several days later Luke, Thalia and Annabeth had traveled to another small town. The night was still young, and they hadn't eaten since the Hunters visit, and more monsters had been chasing them. Like right now, they were trying to avoid a hellhound. They were both beat and knew if they got into a fight, one of them was going to slip up and all of them were likely to die.

"Do you think we lost it?" Thalia asked in a whisper, peeking around an alleyway corner, gripping the shaft of her spear, her shield out.

"I think so," Luke answered just as quiet, leaning against the wall and sliding down. "For now at least." he muttered. "Are you okay, Annabeth?" he asked looking down at the grey-eyed girl.

"I'm okay," she answered in a whisper sitting down next to him.

Thalia sat down on Luke's opposite side—his two girls. It was like they had let out a collective sigh, relaxing after what felt like days. Thalia and Annabeth closed their eyes and both gently leaned against Luke. Luke rested his cheek on the top Thalia's head and put an arm around Annabeth, closing his eyes as well, but keeping alert.

Not a moment later did they hear a noise somewhere down the alley. The three demigods were up on their feet, wielding their weapons, ready for a fight.

"Where do you think it came from?" Thalia asked, her eyes darting around, trying to see any moving shadows through the gloom.

The same noise sounded.

"Over there," Luke whispered, gesturing with his chin. Perfectly in sync, they all moved forward with stealth. The noise came again, echoing off the walls, a little louder, indicating they were heading in the right direction.

Thalia crept along the wall, Luke right behind her and Annabeth in the middle, and looked over into the next alley. Luke waited patiently for Thalia to tell them if something had gone down that alley.

She pulled back and looked over at Luke and Annabeth, nodding to confirm that something was lurking down there.

"Looks… human." she told them.

"Maybe he's got cash." Luke suggested.

Cash meant food and food meant energy. No more hunger pains in their hollow stomachs. Just thinking about food made Luke's mouth water and his stomach growl.

"Maneuver twenty-six?" Thalia asked. Luke looked down at Annabeth who nodded up at him, he looked back at Thalia and nodded in agreement before getting into place on the other side of the entrance to the other connecting alley. Annabeth stayed with Thalia.

Thalia looked over at him and mouthed the countdown, "_One, __two, __three!_" Luke darted forward, Thalia and Annabeth on his heels.

As he blocked the figure's path, Thalia and Annabeth tripped him up. He landed on the ground with an _oof!_

Then, all three held their weapons, poised at the figure.

"My-name-is-Grover-I'm-a-protector-and-was-sent-to-find-you-guys-I-swear-I'm-not-a-monster-I've-come-to-take-you-to-Camp-Half-Blood-please-don't-kill-me!" the figure whimpered, in one big breath.

Now that the danger had passed, Luke pulled his sword back and looked down at the person. Actually, not person, satyr: the top half was human, the bottom half had fur and hooves, like a goat.

"A satyr." Luke told Thalia and Annabeth, nodding down at Grover.

Thalia threw her spear into her left hand and held her right out for Grover and hauled him to his feet, er, hooves.

"All right, goat boy, what is this camp that everyone keeps mentioning?" Thalia asked.

Grover made a face at his new nickname. "Camp Half-Blood," he explained anyway. "It's kind of self explanatory. It's a camp for half-bloods like you guys. I'm supposed to take you guys there." His face paled. "And it better be quick, the only reason I found you guys was because of the monster scent trails."

Thalia, Luke and Annabeth exchanged looks, scowling.

"Hades found out that Zeus broke the oath," Luke spoke remembering just now what the telkhine had told him right before they'd gone to his mother's. Thalia looked at him her eyebrows shooting up, her mouth dropping slightly.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"I meant to tell you when I found out but—" Luke quickly tried to explain.

"But what?" Thalia asked cutting him off taking a step forward. Grover gulped nervously and took two steps back.

"Thalia, I'm sure he has a good explanation," Annabeth tried to reason.

But Thalia ignored her. "It wasn't important enough? How could you forget to tell me something like that?"

"The telkhine was the one who told me. I was going to tell you, I swear. But you were injured and our shelter was destroyed. I was a little distraught." Luke quickly explained hating seeing her angry with him.

Thalia simmered down, guilt flooding her gorgeous eyes. "Sorry." she mumbled stepping back and dropping her gaze.

Luke pulled her into a hug. "I understand." He pulled back and turned to face Grover again. "Hades found out and is sending these monsters after us. He won't stop." Luke looked down at Thalia with concern. "Not until she's dead." His throat tightened.

"Then we'd better get going." Grover advised readjusting the Rasta cap on his head.

* * *

><p>"Keep going!" Grover gasped as the four of them ran. "We're almost there!"<p>

Light flashed above, the sky illuminating with a bright, blue-white light before dimming again. Thunder followed with ear-splitting cracks. Cold, spitting rain poured down on the quartet, who were trying to get away from the horde of monsters chasing after them. They were far now, but gaining quickly. Quicker than any of them wanted. If only they hadn't met that Cyclops….

Several hundred yards away a hill appeared.

Half-Blood Hill.

They were so close!

But with the way the monsters were chasing after them, Luke feared they weren't going to make it to Camp Half-Blood alive… at least, not all of them. His heart hammering in his chest, he pushed himself harder, and risked a glance behind them.

"Look out!" Luke shouted stopping and turning to face the three hellhounds that had managed to run ahead of the pack.

Thalia, Annabeth and Grover stopped, Thalia brandishing her shield, tightening her grip on the shaft of her spear. Annabeth gripped the dagger Luke had given her with a determined look in her sparkling grey eyes.

Grover nervously tugged at Thalia's shirt. "We can't! We have to go! They're gaining." His voice shook.

Luke stabbed a hellhound as it leapt forward, but it rolled away before the Celestial bronze could slice through its body.

"We have no choice!" Thalia shouted as more thunder rumbled overhead.

Luke looked over at to see how Thalia and Annabeth were doing. Annabeth was struggling a bit because she had to get in close to make a strike. Of course Thalia was trying to keep two hellhounds at bay and help Annabeth, but that was a difficult task, even for the most trained warrior.

Taking a big risk, Luke jumped at the hellhound totally exposing himself and jabbed and slashed with all his might. Finally the hellhound evaporated and Luke ran over to help Annabeth.

"Help if you can!" Thalia shouted at Grover before running toward yet another hellhound with a battle cry, just as Luke got over to Annabeth. Together they shredded the hellhound and through the rain and dust that used to be the monster, they both saw a black mass. They couldn't tell what it was at first, but Luke's blood ran cold when he realized it was the other monsters. There were so many he couldn't even see the ground they trampled on.

"Luke, look out!" Annabeth shouted shoving him to the side. They hit the ground and slid slightly from all the mud. A hellhound's paws landed where they'd just been. Annabeth and Luke leapt to their feet ready to face it.

"Luke! Annabeth!" Thalia shouted from somewhere.

"Kind of busy!" Luke replied back as the hound flung a paw out. He dodged fluidly and slashed, as Annabeth bravely ran in to make a strike of her own before dashing back out of the line of fire. Unfortunately as Luke went to jab his foot slipped underneath the unstable earth. His head hit the ground hard and he saw stars for a moment. Annabeth not expecting him to be there fell over him.

"Guys!" Thalia's shriek broke through the thunder overhead.

Before the hound could do anything though, a tin can hit the side of its head and bounced off harmlessly. The thing swung its head around, its eyes trained on Grover now.

Grover threw another tin can at it, but that only seemed to make it more ticked off.

The hound threw out a paw; claws sheathed because apparently he wasn't that important, and knocked him to the ground. He didn't get up.

"Grover!" Thalia shouted. No response.

Blinking, Luke capitalized on Grover's heroic act and jumped up, lunging toward the hound and lashing with his sword. Annabeth had recovered as well, and soon Thalia came to help and as a team they sent it back to the Underworld.

"We need to move, _now!_" Thalia shouted, looking worriedly over at the ever-growing mass. They were extremely close. Any leeway they could've had had evaporated now. Their chances of making it to camp was a million to none.

Luke and Thalia both threw one of Grover's arms over their shoulders, made sure

Annabeth was in front of them and started stumbling toward Half-Blood Hill. Every now again Grover would mutter, "Food."

"Come on," Thalia groaned. "Wake up, goat boy!"

With effort and every last shred of energy Annabeth, Luke and Thalia had, they trudged up the hill, but at the top Thalia glanced back.

She shoved Grover into Luke. "_Go._" she commanded, slapping her bracelet. Aegis spiraled out.

Luke's eyes widened. "I'm not leaving you!" he shouted shaking his head, droplets of water spraying every which way. What was she thinking? They'd be able to make it… they _would_! Wouldn't they?

"I'm not leaving you either!" Annabeth objected looking up at Thalia.

Thalia looked back at the black mass, just seeing the smiles of satisfaction from the Furies, before looking down at Annabeth with sad eyes and then meeting Luke's beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that she wished she could stare into forever. "You have to! We're not going to make it." If Luke hadn't known any better, it looked as if Thalia had begun to cry, but it was hard to tell with the sheets of rain.

Luke's chest tightened and a lump formed in his throat. No, he wasn't going to let her do this! He couldn't! They _had_ to make it! They had to. What would he do without Thalia?

"Yes, we are! Don't say that!" Luke's voice shook.

"Food!" Grover moaned again.

Thalia looked back at the monsters. They were mere yards away from the base of the hill. Her throat clogged up.

"Luke you have taken care of me for years now!" she told him in a rush, reaching up to caress his face. "Now it's my turn. I'm going to hold them. It should give you guys enough time to get down there. To safety."

"Thalia, please, don't!" Annabeth sobbed. "We're all going to make it! We can if we get going now!"

Luke's eyes tightened with pain, he could see nothing they were ever going to say was going to change her mind. "Thalia…"

"We have to make sacrifices." she said pulling her hand back. "I'm saying goodbye." She paused momentarily. "I have to." She gave Annabeth a quick, bone-crushing hug.

"Thalia, I—" Luke started when she'd pulled away.

"Go!" she ordered.

Reluctantly, with Grover's arm still thrown over his shoulder, Luke descended the hill with Annabeth and they ran as fast as they could to the big blue house.

He laid Grover down on the porch of the house and turned back to look at the hill. Annabeth came over to him, and he put his arm around her comfortingly. Together, they watched what was going on at the peak of the hill.

Thalia stood bravely, her head held high, her shield and spear at the ready. Then, like a wave of pure darkness they were on her. Luke couldn't distinguish what exactly was happening as Thalia jabbed and slashed with her spear, blocking their demonic claws with her shield.

The Furies circled overhead, waiting for a chance to dive in.

But more came, faster than she could disintegrate them. They surrounded her on the hill.

Luke's heart lurched in his chest as he watched in horror, as one of the Furies ripped her shield from her arm. Another taking her spear and snapping it in half. Giving one of the hellhounds a chance to rack its claws across her back.

Luke was too far away to hear her screams of agony, but he felt as if he could hear them, ringing in his ears, clawing at his heart, shredding it to ribbons.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried darting forward, but Luke held her back. "Let me go! Let me go! We need to help her!" she shouted, struggling against him.

"It's too late," he whispered his own eyes filling with tears. Annabeth stopped struggling and collapsed into body-racking sobs on the porch. Luke felt frozen, his eyes were stuck, wide open, glued to top of the hill.

Thalia fell and disappeared in the mass, but before the monsters could do anything else there was a great flash. So great, Luke _had_ to turn his head away. But he felt the air pressure change, he felt all the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand up on end; he smelled ozone.

When the light faded and Luke looked back to where Thalia had fallen, there stood a tree.

A pine tree. Tall, healthy, fully grown.

There were no monsters to be seen within miles.

Like always, thunder followed, but this thunder was like nothing Luke had ever heard before. His hands flew up to his ears, the sound reverberating in his chest, the ground shaking from the force the clashing clouds caused. The house groaned, rattling with the ground.

_Zeus,_ Luke thought. It had to be. But why? Why now? He'd never shown he cared about Thalia in the first place. Now that she's dying he decides to do something. And it had to be turning her into a tree? His best friend, his companion on the run, the one he… loved was a tree! How was that fair! How was that justice?

If anything, Thalia should've died and gone to Elysium for sacrificing herself for Luke, Annabeth and Grover to get to safety. Instead, she'd be a tree. Eternally. Not dead, but not alive either.

Luke's jaw clenched.

A wave of pure, black, unadulterated hatred washed over him, practically drowning him.

He _loathed_ them.

_Despised_ them.

Every last Olympian. His father especially.

He wanted them to pay for what happened with Thalia. This was all their fault! Directly, indirectly, it didn't matter! They're the ones who caused this!

The sound of a door opening caught Luke's attention. He turned to see a centaur standing in the doorway. Without a word, he kneeled down next to Annabeth and took her into his arms. Another half-blood helped a now half-conscious Grover to his feet and started inside. Luke followed, taking a swift look at the pine tree standing at the crest of the hill.

A shiver ran down Luke's spine as he stepped inside, as a deep, icy, ancient chuckle filled his mind.

_Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it. ~ Terry Pratchett_

**All right, that's the end. Stay tuned for the next small story in the series: Enemy Among Us. I might post it within the next week or so. Hope you enjoyed!**

**thank-you-for-everything**

**~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!**


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